FIRST Saturday Workday–pun intended!

Both students and mentors came to the robot room early this morning to work on both the FTC and FRC robots.

Some advancements made on the FTC robot are the very “high tech” wood sticks that prevent the plastic balls from flying away from the robot as they are picked up. The FTC team is currently experimenting the optimum spacing of the sticks. The white plastic rolls rotate and the alternating plastic “teeth” pick up the plastic balls and elevate them to a plastic receptacle that guides the balls to a bottle holder. This holder is mounted on a telescopic pole which can extend up to 5 feet high.

Mr. Bull also spent some time going over the basic rules with the students to make sure everybody is aware of what is allowed and what gets a penalty.

Finally, the students were able to test the robot and fine tune some issues.

The FRC team built the robot control system board and was able to test it today. The instructions for the wiring were followed closely, so everything lit up like it was supposed to. It is alive!

McKinley and Jarrod started building a ramp out of Plexiglas and plywood.

Later, other students joined in the design and building of the ramp.

There is a lot of work that needs to be done in the upcoming meetings. What is your favorite “job” in the robotics room?